Does Arçelik support Israel?

Arçelik ended its Israeli distributor's exclusivity and built its own Israeli head office in the months before Turkey halted trade with Israel. Calcalist broke the story on 25 June 2023 as its own exclusive: Brimag, which had distributed Beko in Israel exclusively since 2001 and signed a new three-year agreement in May 2021, had lost that exclusivity. Calcalist alone carries the documentary detail, quoting Brimag's own statement — that Arçelik intends to distribute Beko in Israel itself as part of a global strategic move to end its remaining agreements with local distributors around the world and open its own distribution offices, and that Brimag received a letter from Arçelik on 25 June 2023 naming 3 May 2024, the date the contract set for the distribution agreement's expiry, as its end, so it would not be extended. Bizportal reported the termination the next day, 26 June 2023, from Brimag's disclosure to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange; it carries neither the letter, the 3 May 2024 date nor the global rationale, and frames the ending instead as Arçelik exercising the contract's exit option — a right, reported by both outlets, to terminate at the end of any year if Brimag missed the annual sales targets the parties had agreed. On 25 February 2024 ice reported that Beko had leased about 500 square metres of offices and a business-to-business (B2B) showroom at the Global Towers complex in Petah Tikva, an investment ice put at about one million shekels, completing an Israeli head office covering import, sales, logistics and customer service, and had hired Sharon Rachamim, formerly commercial vice-president of the A.L.M chain, as sales director for all of Arçelik's brands; Beko Israel's chief executive, Cihan Yeşin, said the direct-marketing strategy would take effect during 2024. This is Arçelik building out its own commercial operation in Israel — not a donation, sponsorship or statement of support.

Beko Israel, the Israeli representative office of Arçelik A.Ş., took over the brand's Israeli business directly in May 2024 — the same month Turkey halted all trade with Israel. According to Calcalist, it bought the remaining stock of Brimag, the Israeli distributor that had held the Beko franchise since 2001, and began selling straight to Israeli retailers, among them the A.L.M chain and the KSP e-commerce platform. Rather than shipping from Turkey, the company sourced the goods through European intermediaries — mainly Italy, Greece and Bulgaria — so that Turkey's embargo would not cut the Israeli supply line. Prices rose about 8% because of the longer routing. This is Arçelik's own commercial decision to keep selling in Israel; it is not a donation to, or endorsement of, Israel or its government.

Arçelik's Beko brand has been sold in Israel since 2001, when Brimag took the exclusive franchise for washing machines, dryers, refrigerators and other white goods. Ynet reported on 4 March 2020 that after some eighteen years of working through the distributor, the Turkish manufacturer had opened its own Israeli representative office, run by a Turkish executive, Bülent Şan, who relocated to Israel, while Brimag continued as a partner; Beko's white goods held roughly 7% of the Israeli market at that point, positioned in the affordable-price category. Ynet also reported that the white goods imported into Israel are built at a Turkish plant and priced about 10% above Turkish prices because of import costs, and quoted the company's regional manager for the Middle East and Africa saying Israel was not the company's largest market but that Israeli consumers demand premium models that cut water and power use. The office's start date is reported differently across outlets: ice (25 February 2024) says the first official representative office was set up in 2019, while Calcalist (25 June 2023) says only that Arçelik opened one some years earlier. Three of Arçelik's brands reached Israel through Israeli importers at the time — Beko via Brimag, Blomberg via Ralco and Grundig via Newpan — as Ynet reported on 8 January 2020, carrying a Calcalist report, in covering a NIS 23 million damages claim Newpan filed in the Tel Aviv District Court against Arçelik and Ralco over the Grundig white-goods line; Ralco said it denies the claims against it, and the outcome is not recorded here. This is a long-running commercial market presence, not a donation, sponsorship or political act.

Beyond the Beko brand, Arçelik-made appliances continued to reach Israel under its other labels after Turkey's May 2024 trade halt. Calcalist reported that Ralco, the Israeli importer of Blomberg — manufactured by Arçelik — stopped importing directly from Turkey and instead routed the goods through another European country before shipping them to Israel, at higher freight cost and with payment demanded before production. Ynetnews reported that Turkish-made appliances under the Beko and Blomberg names, alongside BSH, Fujicom, Electra and Lenco products, accounted for about 30% of the white goods Israel imported from Turkey at the start of 2024. The re-routing decisions here were taken by Israeli importers; the manufacturing company is Arçelik.